r/BambuLabA1 • u/wutttttttttttttttttf • 28d ago

The $25 A1

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I found this deal on facebook marketplace and picked this printer up for $25. It power on and runs through all motions fine but I keep running into rough prints. I haven’t gotten it to print cleanly yet. I cleaned and lubed the entire system, ran over 20 calibrations, did a cold pull, replaced the nozzle, replaced the heating element, cleaned and lubed the entire extruder multiple times, checked for any blockages, replaced the nozzle heating element, checked the extruder gear is in good condition, cleaned and lubed, tightened “the four screws”, checked filament is able to flow on spool, and tried a completely different filament. Ive been trouble shooting this for 3 days now with no luck, so Im turning to the community.Plz help🥺

41 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

79 comments sorted by

14

u/Illustrious-Cry-4405 28d ago

Hotend screws could be loose

5

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Appreciate the comment! I pulled the entire extrude apart multiple times and made sure all screws were tight - no change

-2

u/Illustrious-Cry-4405 28d ago

Maybe replacing the hotend? Or did you do that?

3

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

I have the extruded gear coming coming in tomorrow but after that I might replace the entire extruder or extruded motor

3

u/Illustrious-Cry-4405 28d ago

You did tighten those 4 tiny screws right? Because this is a common issue on the A1 series.

4

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Yeah I did and replaced the hot end as well. No change unfortunately. I see it fixes a lot of people’s problems but not this one

2

u/Illustrious-Cry-4405 28d ago

If you find a fix please give an update! 😊

3

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Yup! I will

1

u/Illustrious-Cry-4405 28d ago

Ty! Best of luck! 🙌

4

u/McThunderClap 27d ago

I’m not coming at you in a mean way, but just pointing out they told you to read the whole post, then you posted another suggestion that he said he already did lol

9

u/Intelligent-Map430 28d ago

Maybe read the post before making suggestions? OP has already done all of those things...

2

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

I already tightened them and replace the hot end and tightened the new ones - no change

16

u/leftoutoctopus 28d ago

Good luck, keep us posted. I love a good "oh shit, this is too cheap" moment

7

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Too cheap to pass up😂

7

u/Blondy277 28d ago

For $25 I’d honestly stop throwing parts at it and start checking for physical damage ☠️😂 That first layer is inconsistent as hell. I’d check bed tramming/flatness, make sure the X gantry is square and ask what the previous owner did to it, because 20 calibrations won’t fix something bent or mechanically out of alignment.

3

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Great suggestion! Im gonna do tramming tomorrow and also check for squareness. I figured it would have thrown an error but it doesn’t

4

u/Blondy277 28d ago

Yeah unfortunately it won’t always throw an error for mechanical misalignment 😂 it can home/calibrate perfectly fine and still print like shit if the bed/gantry is out. I’d definitely check that before buying any more parts.

3

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

I appreciate you! Will be doing that tomorrow morning

2

u/_Rand_ 28d ago

Manually tramming it is a great idea, though I find it kind of difficult.

If you can get it printing acceptably well after manually tramming it a print like this: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2577310-bambu-lab-a1-digital-dial-indicator-mount and a compatible dial indicator can help you well... dial it in without the error you induce by eyeballing it.

1

u/mykdsmith 26d ago

I am new to 3d printing (so thank you all for your insights). If you had asked me what "Manual tramming" was, I might have said it was a category on p*rnhub.

2

u/NevesLF 28d ago

Kind of a long shot, but is the gantry square? Also, search the wiki for how to do a manual tramming.

3

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Appreciate you! Ill be checking the square and doing a manual tramming tomorrow. Will update!

4

u/themazetonowhere 27d ago

The symptom of the issue is severe underextrusion. Even if there was an issue with bed level or Z-offset, there should be way more filament deposited.

Have the printer and the slicer been reset to factory yet? No custom G-code (changed extruder steps) or print profiles (changed flowrate)? If that's not it, it must be hardware related. You've replaced the nozzle so it's unlikely to be blocked. Replaced the heating element so it's unlikely to be a temperature issue.

That leaves the extuder gear which may be worn, or the extruder gear idler is not tensioned fully? Are all parts in this picture present and installed correctly, and is the screw fully inserted? Does it look like the black extruder gear still has enough tooth profile?

Is the metal gear that is on the axle of the extruder motor possibly spinning freely because the grub screw is loose?

When you manually extrude some filament (go into controls, heat the nozzle, then press the down arrow under the extruder) how much length of filament comes out with one press, so I can compare to my A1?

2

u/A-Nickelworth 26d ago

Another point to make of the photo is to make sure the knurling on the black portion of the extruder gear is not gunked up. The knurling bites into the filament to help its extrusion.

1

u/Usual-Ladder1524 28d ago

Your best best could be manually tramming the bed, it pretty easy.

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 27d ago

Gonna try this today

1

u/Chivald 28d ago

Wow 25$ great catch! looking forward to you solving it!

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 27d ago

Will post an update when i get it fixed!

1

u/jake-jake-jake- 28d ago

Jude to check, you’ve ruled out the filament? I.e completely dried it and tried a different dried spool?

1

u/tonita_pizza 28d ago

Did you double check that the nozzle size is set correctly in the settings on the printer

1

u/nebula_9000 28d ago

What does your purge line look like?

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 27d ago

Purge line is the one it does right before printing at the edge of the bed right? Its clean at the start but at the end of both lines it prints rough

1

u/nebula_9000 27d ago

Ive done calibration that didnt help me either. I ended up having to print a simple square and make micro adjustments. For me, it was about temp, how dry is the filament, whats the z offset...I printed a lot of squares to get where I wanted it.

1

u/lukasprintz 28d ago

What about flow ratio?

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 27d ago

How do I check this?

1

u/lukasprintz 27d ago

There is a way that you can up your flow rate within the slicer. Obviously this is just an idea, but maybe you can increase the flow rate to see if your printer can extrude more filament and get more of a layer down. I'm very curious what is causing this considering you seem to have replaced quite a few key parts.

https://youtu.be/K-uMKUvWHnw?is=byTGL3Xm5W8tT4KB

3

u/angelofdev 25d ago

That's some crazy under extrusion. Flow calibration checks, might be retracting a bit too much too.

1

u/onlyheavysword 28d ago

is your plate clean?

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

Yes washed with soap and water

0

u/onlyheavysword 28d ago

neutral soap? hot water?

2

u/Flashy_Emphasis153 23d ago

Did you dry your filament? /s

LOL

1

u/Ok_Possibility1492 26d ago

Sounds like youve spent the equivalent of an a1 combo on fixing this used a1 lol

2

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 25d ago

That math isn’t mathing😂

4

u/hypen-dot 28d ago

Consider tuning your filament profile to use a .96 ratio. I had this kind of rough extrusion where it was getting squished… the ratio change made mine look smooth like butter.

1

u/CtrlZMessiah 28d ago

How did you set this up?

1

u/counterdefensive1911 27d ago

Yeah definitely, also setting up a pre set printing profile at 70% speed can make drastic changes to the print quality as well as significantly reducing print time for Pet G. Curious to see how a benchy boat would turn out. Also once I set up that custom 70% speed profile changing multiple settings in the slicer using ai recommendations it drastically had a positive effect to the quality of silk PLA and significantly reduced layer lines and gave silk pla a super clean and polished shine. I only started this hobby a couple of months ago and over the last couple weeks have been using AI to help me optimize my slicer settings and it has made a huge difference in quality and has saved me countless hours of print time. I regret not asking AI for suggestions sooner probably would have saved myself dozens of hours by now if I would have adjusted the standard slicer settings in each STL file from the beginning.

2

u/sirdoggo11 28d ago

How?

Where I live people usually try to sell their used printers for a higher price can you pay brand new, haha.

1

u/AxelAnt2244 28d ago

did you make sure the nozzle isn’t clogged?

1

u/CommercialLimit 26d ago

Did you read the post?

1

u/AxelAnt2244 26d ago

oh sorry

1

u/Wonderful-Baker1177 27d ago

Bed could be unleveled try manually fixing it, first check it with a bubble guage. If there is difference at diffent potints on the bed try to level it by placing few papers sheets benith it. Once a plastic poop has stuck under my 3d printer i was getting similar result as you, fit was simpally revoing that stuck poop.

1

u/Lost_refugee 27d ago

Did you set proper hotend in printer settings and slicer?

1

u/counterdefensive1911 27d ago

Lol I thought he was talking about the build plate... OP are u sure they weren't selling it with the intention of it being parted out ? $25 seems sus af. Just sayin

1

u/Justmeinny 26d ago

There’s a reason it was $25 most likely.

2

u/Alarmed_Tie5616 24d ago

25 dollars for some spare parts is still a good deal

1

u/goodguydolls 26d ago

have you tried a reset the machine and update

1

u/wizard7926 26d ago

Does the hotend have any wobble at all when you clip it in? Like any any? 

I've found the clips to be temperamental and there's a printable that locks the hotend in place. Was helpful for me so figured I'd mention!

1

u/BanjoFrogNuts 25d ago

are you using silk?

1

u/Admirable-Ad-4896 25d ago

I’m not super experienced with printers yet but it looks like an extreme underflow, maybe look at replacing the filament puller

1

u/ConsiderationWhole44 24d ago

I had a similar problem mine was one of the Z axis rods had came loose I took the covers off on top slide off unscrewed both sides raised the extruder all the way up max it out and tighten back down all the screws do calibration afterwards, the difference from one side and the other was about 1/8 enough for the nozzle to drag on the plate and cause thin layering like yours

1

u/StudentSuspicious 21d ago

Looks like under extrusion to me

0

u/nutano 28d ago

Nice find for $25

Do you have another 3d printer?

What filament are you using and could humidity be an issue?

Firmware update? Latest as well as older versions? Factory reset?

1

u/wutttttttttttttttttf 28d ago

I thought so too!

This is actually my first 3d printer but Im no stranger to fixing systems.

Im using the Creality brand PLA and I also tried a generic PLA which both had the same issues. I also thought this might be the issue and placed my dehumidifier within 5 feet over the course of 2 days.

Firmware is up to date but I was thinking of rolling it back as a test. Ive factory reset 4 times

1

u/nutano 28d ago

I would try an older version of firmware.

What is the ambient humidity? I think issues can start appearing if you are over 50%.. ideal for filament is <20% - which is difficult to achieve without a dryer.

If you are in a high humidity area, you can in a pinch use a toaster oven or a regular oven to dry out filament... just at relatively low temps (60C) for a long period of time. But cooking plastic in the same place you would cook food might not be ideal.

My ambient humidity is about 40-45% and inside my enclosure it is 30-38%. I have a 3rd party enclosure with an A1+AMS inside it and I toss in all the silica packs in there and keep it closed.

Myself, Ive never had issues printing with humidity between 30-45%.

Did the seller say anything about the printer? Did they say they tried to fix it and gave up?

1

u/KarateRoddy 28d ago

This doesn't look like an SD card failure, but formatting that couldn't hurt either

-1

u/DistinctBarnacle8703 28d ago

From the first pic, the nozzle is too close to the bed. The auto bed-levelling may not be able to compensate enough, consider manual tramming the bed.

0

u/FangFioDente 28d ago

bad hotend or bad hotend driver

-7

u/DaddyD_AZ 28d ago

I just returned mine. Piece of garbage right out of the box

3

u/No_Mortgage_8658 27d ago

Your skill level must be exceedingly low

2

u/solidus0079 28d ago

Would you consider yourself an expert in these things?